Three-bedroom townhomes, which made up 1 percent of the big-building apartment market, had the biggest rent hikes, according to RealFacts. The smallest hikes were for three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments, which made up 3 percent of the apartments.

Size

Q4 2011

Q4 2012

$ ch

% ch

Studio

$1,127

$1,220

$93

8.3%

1 Bed, 1 bath

$1,337

$1,412

$75

5.6%

2 Bed, 1 bath

$1,448

$1,500

$52

3.6%

2 Bed, 2 Bath

$1,801

$1,877

$76

4.2%

2 Bed Townhome

$1,917

$2,027

$110

5.7%

3 Bed, 2 bath

$2,176

$2,233

$57

2.6%

3 Bed Townhome

$2,369

$2,585

$216

9.1%

All Size Average

$1,561

$1,637

$76

4.9%

Source: RealFacts

Graphics

The average rent for a large-complex apartment unit in Orange Countyhit another record high, climbing to $1,637 a month during 2012's final three months, apartment tracker RealFacts reported.

That's up $9 a month from the summer. For the entire year, local rents rose $76 a month – or 4.9 percent – from the fall of 2011.

Local rents dropped in the recession, followed by three years of almost uninterrupted rent hikes. County apartment rents increased 11 percent since 2009.

The high rents are fueled by high demand. Orange County's occupancy rate is 95 percent, RealFacts figures show.

The Bay Area company based its report on surveys of 503 Orange County complexes with 90 or more units. The 131,000 apartments included represent almost a third of all rentals in the county.

But industry insiders say rents are rising for all types of rentals, driven by rising demand and an improving economic outlook. Homeowners displaced by foreclosure and newly employed workers moving out of parents' homes swelled the ranks of renters in recent years.

Kevin Miller, president and part owner of Westside Rentals, estimated that his Orange County listing business has increased 10 percent in the past year.

"Demand is going through the roof the last year, year and a half," Miller said. "We have the industry, we have the weather and, more importantly, jobs."

As rents jumped, the typical mortgage payment for an Orange County home fell 13 percent in the past three years to $1,990 a month, figures from DataQuick Information Systems show.

"In the past three years, (rent) has gone up dramatically," said Hugo Gonsalez, general manager for Next-rent.com, a Santa Ana rental listing service. "If you have good credit and you have the documents, buying makes as much sense as renting."

Studio apartments that Gonsalez saw listed for $750 a month three months ago are now going for $900 a month, he said. Two-bedroom units that rented for $1,200 a month two years ago now rent for $1,400 to $1,600 a month.

"I don't see it slowing down," he said.

Orange County had the fifth-highest apartment rent among 26 California metro areas and the eighth-highest percentage increase in asking rents.

Silicon Valley had the state's highest apartment rents, averaging $1,954 a month. The next-highest apartment rents were in the San Francisco Bay Area ($1,859), Santa Cruz County ($1,690) and Los Angeles County ($1,733).

Among Orange County cities, apartment rents ranged from an average of $1,282 a month in Stanton to $2,263 a month in Newport Beach.

RealFacts figures show that Orange County apartment rents have doubled since 1994. Government figures show just three years since the Great Depression in which Southern California rents dropped: 1940, 1995 and 2010.

O.C. median household incomes increased 23 percent from 2000 to 2011, from $59,000 to $73,000 a year, U.S. Census figures show. But average apartment rents increased 54 percent in that time, according to RealFacts.

Only 30 percent of a family's income should go toward rent, Covarrubias said, meaning that a family must earn almost $32 an hour, or about $66,000 a year, to afford the typical two-bedroom apartment in Orange County.

"If you're making $10 an hour, you're likely sharing your arrangement," said Covarrubias, noting that two or three families to a unit are common.

"It presents some challenges for privacy and for education. Where is the kid going to study?" he asked.

Crowding is common even for families than can afford their own apartment since they can't afford to get as big an apartment as they need, said Gonsalez at Nextrent.com.

Meanwhile, the rising rents have spurred a building boom among landlords, although much of that new construction is for higher-income renters. More than 4,200 apartment units were recently built or are under construction.

RealFacts figures showed that construction slowed during the recession, dropping from more than 3,000 new apartments in 2008 to zero in 2011. Last year, 1,450 new units were built, according to RealFacts.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that U.S. apartment construction remains below historical norms, meaning that demand likely will outpace supply for a while longer.

Rising rents also make apartments more desirable for investors, although low interest rates and stock market volatility are the main reasons for the high demand, said Bill Webster, an agent with Vanguard Investment Properties of Fullerton. Most listings currently generate up to four bids in a day.

"Rising rents help the landlord," Webster said. "It's making it a better investment."

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